Holy Rosary has again been blessed with donations, but these gifts were a little different. During the summer and fall of 2020, several members of Epiphany of Our Lord Parish passed away. Family and friends of these long time Epiphany parishioners generously donated funds to Holy Rosary in their memory.  Helen Hamilton and Betty Gallagher’s friends simply asked that we use their gifts where they would be most needed.  Since COVID, we have been unable to use our water fountains, so we knew that a bottle filler would be a good choice. When we ordered the bottle filler from Cooney Brothers in Plymouth Meeting, the owner of the company, Mr. Jerry Cooney, also wanted to help Holy Rosary. He donated an additional bottle filler so that we would have one on each floor of the school. Students in each grade are now able to fill their water containers from the fountains. Not only are the fillers convenient, we are helping to save the planet by not using multitudes of plastic water bottles.

Dolores Strittmatter, the secretary of the former Epiphany of Our Lord School, also passed away during this time. Family, friends, and former faculty members of the parish school wanted to honor Dolores, who had dedicated herself to the children of Epiphany.  With their donations, we removed a decaying platform; built a new stone platform; erected a beautiful statue of the Blessed Mother, Holy Rosary’s patroness, and installed a plaque expressing everyone’s love for Dolores.  Fr. Quindlen will bless the statue on Saturday, Feb. 6th at 9:30.  All are invited to join us for this blessing. We continue to keep all of these beloved people in our prayers.

What a year we are saying goodbye to! Most of us are glad to see 2020 move along. Looking back from a family perspective, hopefully you have become even closer to your “in house” family. My husband and I have learned exactly what binging TV shows is all about. We have spent so much time alone together, that we now know when retirement comes, we will make it. Wrigley, our golden doodle, has been happy to have us around more, and she has enjoyed her extra walks. I know I cannot wait to hug my Virginia grandson again, as well as my daughter who works at Penn as a Physical Therapist with COVID patients. It has been many long months for all of us, and we have sacrificed so much to remain safe. I want to thank you for being cautious, and only sending your children to school when they were healthy. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and soon this part of our life will be behind us.

Going forward, let us look at 2021 with a renewed sense of purpose. Continue to cherish your families. Continue to help your children appreciate the importance of God and family. Once you are comfortable, go back to church and the sacraments as a family. Continue to pray together. Continue to teach your children the importance of hard work. Continue to teach them to be kind and to value others. Continue to teach them to value themselves. Continue to teach them to be independent. Together we will help the children entrusted to us to become faithful, productive members of society.

God’s Graces to you!
Mary Ann